JERUSALEM (JPS) The hotel at 7 King David Street in the Mamilla quarter is officially no longer the Jerusalem Hilton, effective Monday, when its name was changed to the David Citadel Hotel.
The Hilton name has been removed from the sign at the entrance to the hotel, leaving just the words Jerusalem, in English and Hebrew. On Monday morning, operators were answering the phone with the phrase “the former Hilton” and then reverted to “David Citadel.”
This is the second time in the history of the city that the Hilton chain has lost a landmark hotel in the nation’s capital. In 1994, the Hilton at the entrance of the city became the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, leaving the city without a Hilton for four years.
Earlier this month, the owner of the hotel, Alfred Akirov, chairman of Tel Aviv-based Alrov Holdings, announced that the establishment was ending its management contract with Hilton International, charging that Hilton had failed to live up to the exacting standards demanded by the owner.
Hilton International issued a statement saying that the parties had begun “arbitration proceedings in order to settle the dispute between the two sides…Alrov is not entitled to cancel the management agreement unilaterally or to sever its ties with Hilton.” Additionally, the chain is filing a claim against Alrov to recover damages
Three other international deluxe hotel chains are also no longer represented in Jerusalem, after once having had a presence there: Ramada (now simply the Renaissance), Radisson (now the Dan Panorama), and Intercontinental (formerly on the Mount of Olives).
Israeli scientists say they have some heart
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli researchers said they have grown heart cells from human embryonic stem cells.
The scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and Rambam Medical Center said Wednesday they envisioned injecting these cells into damaged areas to create healthy cardiac muscle that restores heart function.
U.S. Jewish groups are generally in favor of stem cell research, but some opponents consider embryos human beings and believe that destroying them for research would be immoral. President Bush is still considering whether to permit federal funding of research involving human embryonic stem cells.
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